1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handwritten memo data management method and apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for storing and searching for handwritten memo data using a database in which the handwritten memo data are registered in a form of bit streams representing continuous and discontinuous elements constituting the handwritten memo data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, mobile terminals are designed to be multimedia devices supporting various supplementary functions such as an electronic organizer function, a gaming function, a music and video playback function, a schedule manager function, and other similar functions. With the increasing diversification of the supplemental functions of the mobile terminal, a user interface facilitating management of the diversified supplementary services should be provided.
Additionally, an increasing number of digital devices support handwriting type input using a stylus and a touchscreen. In this case, the mobile terminal, such as smartphone, can support various handwriting-based applications using a stylus and a touchscreen of the mobile terminal in order to generate handwritten memos. In the related-art method, however, when a user searches for a previously stored handwritten memo, the user opens each of the previously stored memo files, enters, if the handwritten memo is character-recognizable, a keyword, or compares the entered image pattern with those of the previously stored memo files, resulting in a time-consuming and inconvenient search that often produces a bad search results. Thus, there is a need for a method for facilitating search of handwritten memo.